Stocking form



April 28, 1953 c. s. TlERs 2,636,651

STOCKING FORM Filed Jan. 24, 1951 Patented Apr. 28, 1953 STATE-.LS FAT ENT'(` OFFICE;

SIOCKING' FORM' i &kariesit SL; Tiers,- Philadelhiag.` Pa., L assignrw to; Broetoa& Schwartz, Inc., Bhiladelphim\ Pas, aa?

eorporationrofi Pennsylvania.

AnplicatienzJnuary'z i, 1951,' Serial Nu; '201503 lzclaims. (c. 223 45 This invention 'relates' to new and; useful intprovements in.` stockingr forms of: the types on wiii-;li` fullfashioned hosiery customarily' is n otnted` for'. drying; setting andother finishing treatments:

It' "has.- been customary foramany years in` the hosiery industry to utilize stockirg formsswhieh are constructed to locate the stocking seamssubstantia'lly attheba'ckofthe stockingfiorexample, hy 'prov-iding an inwardly offset recess or' groove at'ore side' oftliestocking form which'. extends along' the rear'- and bottom edges of the form contimously throughout: the legr and feot portions thereof; se that the seam: of the? stocking is disposed i in znevsic'ie` oi& the? stocking and not precisely 'along the rearcrease:crsfold line there of;

Disposi'ng the stocking* seam: in: this manner at one sideoi the rear, crease'or foldtherein is desirable in the leg portion ofthexstocking; This is so :because the seam isrelativelyabulky and it jis substantially impossible to position .the seam exactly on the rear crease or fold line; of. the stocking through' the entire; length thereof, the seam tending tocshift laterallyzaonto .one on: both sides of the forms im differentt portions of the` length thus': creating-` ana` appearance: which is lackingin uniformitm Furthermore, there is no contrasting or other structural or design element of the sto-cking* adjacent the leg' seam"` portion with respect-ato: whiehrit` iswdesirableto position the seam.

However, this is not true'inthe case of the foot andiheel'portions 'of the stocki'ig, where' the adjacentlleg` and reinforced heeland footportions provide contiguousareas 'of contrastingcolors or designs at opposite sides of the stocking which it is desirable to dispose in accurate overlying registry when the stocking is removed from the form and folded fiat in a box, envelope or other container in which it is displayed and sold.

In the caseof stocking forms having the customary seam recess at one side of the form as previously described the seam in the heel and foot portions of the stocking is disposed in one side of the stockirg the same as it is in the leg portion previously described. This offset of the seam in the heel and foot portions into one side of the stocking efiects a corresponding ofisetting of the contrasting color areas and designs in opposite sides of the stocking so that these areas and designs are not in overlying registry and create a confusing undesirable effect upon the customer. This is particularly true in the case of stockings embodyng so-called framed heel and; similar; designs since such; lack' off registry of the designs; at` opposite? sides of? theisttcking makes it` y extremely." dfiicult: for a t y customer: to observe .y and' determinerethe: exact: design 'i of* 'the stocking.

With: the eforegoingr in: mind:` the principa'l objeet of the, present inventiorris itozprovidea stock ing form of( the'typec: set forthcwhich* emb'odies novel features: of i constructior and;` arrangement operable to insure substantial overlying :registry of` the contrasting areas and designs iniopposte sides of` the `stochng f ati thejuncture* of theu l'g portion and .reinforcedih'e'el and 'footportionso'f the stocking whenlthe stockin'gs` are; removed from the formand folded flat Another object of 'the inventiondss to: provide a novel stocking form which embodiesrth'efcon struetion and" arrangement".` set' fortrr` in combination iwith structure' operable" 'to' dispose:` the seam in the'leglportion of thestoekingiin one side of the stocking withrrespect to the:` rear crease or fold'therein.`

These: and` other obj ects'oft` 'the: invention and the: various `features and ;details of the'aconstruction i and a operation? thereof: are *hereinafter fully set forthvand described` with i` reference` to; the accompanyng drawingginvwhich:

Fig. 1. is a side'televationaleview of a stocking form made aecording to e the:,present invention Fig. 2 is' an enlargedsectional View& oni line` 2-2, Fig, 1;

e 15' im rged sectionalyiew on: line 'ii- 3: Fig. l;`

Figr i is an enlargedufragmentary perspective View of a section of the rearredgeportion. of the stocking form which is embraced by"thesbracket in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a stocking removed from a form of the preesnt -invention and folded fiat with the contrasting areas and design at the juncture of the leg and reinforced heel and foot portions at opposite sides of the stocking disposed in overlying registry; and

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the foot portion of a stocking showing the contrasting areas and desigrs in one side of the stocking offset and out of register with respect to the similar areas and designs at the other side of the stocking.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, reference numeral I designates a stocking form made according to the present invention. The form may be made of metal or other suitable material and preferably is of solid relatively thin Construction and substantially fiat as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. The front edge 2 of the stockng form may be beveled on both sides as indicated at 3 in Figs. 2 and 3.

In accordance with the present invention the stocking form is provided at its rear edge with a recess or groove at one side of the form to receive the seam of the leg portion of the stocking and is provided with a centrally edgewise recess or groove in the heel and foot portions of the form to receive the seam of the heel and foot portions of the stocking. Thus at one side of the stocking form, there may be provided adjacent the rear of the stocking form I, at one side of the latter, a leg seam portion recess 4 which may be defined by an inwardly oset fiat margnal portion that extends inwardly from the form rear edge substantially parallel to the form side Walls and terminates at its inner edge in an outwardly and forwardly beveled surface portion -5, for example; as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

The surfaces 5 and 3 preferably extend continuously from the upper end of the form downwardly along the rear edge thereof to a point which is located at or a short distance above the junotion of the leg portion of the stocking and the top of the reinforced heel portion thereof, for example, as indicated at l in Fig. 1.

Commencing at the point 'i 'there is provided in the rear edge of the stocking form i an inwardly recessed groove 8 for receiving the stocking seam. The groove 8 extends continuously from the point 1 downwardly along the rear heel portion of the form 1 and thenoe along the bottom edge of the foot portion to the toe of the form I where't terminates as shown. The recess or groove may be V-shape in cross-section as shown, or otherwise as desired.

It is important to note that the groove or recess 3 is disposed edgewse of the stocking form centrally between and with respect to the opposite side faces of the form, for example, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. By this arrangement the st'ocking seam in the heel and foot portions of the 'stocking is disposed in the rear: crease or fold of the stocking instead of in one side' of the stocking as in the case of the leg seam portion which is received and positioned by the recess l defined by the surfaces 5 and ES of the form leg portion. To maintain controlled positioning of the stocking seam throughout its length at all times, the lower end of the leg seam recess 4 and the upper end of the heel and foot seam groove 8 are made to intercommunicate, for example, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing.

By this Construction it Will be apparent that the seam in the heel and foot portions of the stocking is advantageously positioned centrally along the rear and bottom edges of the form l while the seam in the leg portion of the stocking is disposed in one side of the stocking and not precisely on the rear fold or crease line thereof as desired. Thus a stocking which is dried, set or otherwise finished upon a form constructed according to the present invention will have the heel and foot portion of its seam disposed in the fold or crease of the stocking so that when the stocking is removed from the form and laid flat the contracting areas and design at the juncture of the leg portion and reinforced heel and foot portions at opposite sides of the stocking will be disposed in overlying registry with each other as indicated in Fig. 5 of the drawing, as distinguished from an offsetting of such areas and designs relative to each other, for example, as illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein such areas and designs are out of register.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has ,been illust'ated and described herein it is not intended that the invention be limited to such disclosure and changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the following claims. v

I claim:

l.. A stocking form having'generally -fiat sides and comprieing leg; heel and foot portions, the` leg portion of the form having an' inward-ly ofiset recess in one side of the form extending acljacent the rear edge th'ereof from the top of the leg portion continuously to a point adja-- cent the top of the heel portion oftheform, and the heel and foot portions of the form having a v-shape groove in the rear and bottom edges respectively thereof disposed 'centrally between the opposite fiat sides-of the form and extending from the lower end of said recess continuously along the rear heel portion and bottom edge' of the foot portion to the toe of the form. i

2. A stoekin'g ;form as claimed in claim i the heel and foot portionsof the form."

` CHARLES S. TIERS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS Name Date i Gray May 4, 1926 Sibson May 22, 1934 Number Cardy Dec. 27, 1938: 

